1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device, an information processing method, and an information processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present age, a single body device such as a copying device, a printing device, a facsimile device, and a scanner device has been known. Besides, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) including at least two image forming functions among a copying function, a printing function, a facsimile function, and a scanner function has also been known. With the recent advance in network technology, Web applications with which an information processing is performed in a server device on a predetermined network such as the Internet and a result of the information processing is returned to a user agent such as a Web browser of a client terminal have been growing. Here, the term “Web” is an abbreviation for “World Wide Web”.
A WebAPI (Web Application Programming Interface) that allows using the functions and changing settings of an MFP has been disclosed. It is possible to give an instruction for printing and to change settings from an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) screen to be displayed by the WebAPI via a Web browser of the MFP.
Here, when a user uses a Web application of an MFP, steps (operations) for usage by the user, including:
1. log-in to the MFP;
2. search and select a desired Web application from a menu;
3. give an instruction for activating the Web application; and
4. give an instruction for executing a job such as printing, scanning, and the like, are required.
Among those steps for usage, the step of “2. search and select a desired Web application from a menu” is a troublesome operation for the user. It is therefore demanded to automatically activate the Web application desired by the user (=the step of “3”) after the step of “1. log-in to the MFP”.
In realizing those operations in cooperation with the MFP and a Web server device, the operations are summarized as follows. First, the Web server device is accessed through a Web browser of the MFP. Next, the Web server device obtains, from the MFP, information necessary for selecting a Web application and building a screen, such as a user ID, a MFP serial number, and a language set in the MFP. The Web server device then automatically activates the Web application desired by the user based on the obtained information.
However, the operation of the automatic activation of the Web application desired by the user involves a problem of delaying, for the time required for a communication processing for obtaining the information of the MFP from the Web server device, for example, the time to the activation of the Web application desired by the user.